


Silence

by Gopnik_Reptilian



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: A beanpole really out here going deaf in one ear, Ben’s an anxious boye as usual, Clem is concerned for her friend, Doug will teach Morse Code to all who desire, Fuck Lilly lol, Gen, Hint hint look up the Morse Code hehe, Hurt/Comfort, I love this big dysfunctional awful family, Im putting in the regular tag as well just to be certain, Is going deaf mild?, Lee’s trying his best, Mild Hurt/Comfort, and by that I mean he’s a stubborn ass, kenny is kenny, probably not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 00:22:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18354770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gopnik_Reptilian/pseuds/Gopnik_Reptilian
Summary: Lilly just barely misses Ben when she makes an attempt on his life, but not without leaving some lasting damage.Worry not, mother hen Doug will make all better with his laser pointer.





	Silence

The gunshot was deafening. 

The moment Lilly pulled her gun out on the teen in front of her, Doug’s mind went blank. He grabbed Ben’s arm and roughly yanked him out of the way and behind him without thinking, like it was pure instinct. His eyes screwed themselves shut, fearing that he’d open them only to see that he had failed. That Ben would be dead on the ground. 

The very thought of it made him sick. The kid that reminded him so much of himself when he was his age, and who’d stick around with him when he was on watch in the late hours of the night. Dead.

“Drop it.” Lee growled, presumably at Lilly. Doug couldn’t find it in himself to care about anything going on in the outside world, too wrapped up in his own fear.

The yelling and arguing of the others was blocked out by his own hyperventilating, the ringing in his ears from the gunshot slowly fading out. Lilly was yelling something at Lee, and Kenny was yelling something back. He could feel his heart hammering away violently against his sternum, with no sign of slowing down soon. 

When he finally gathered the courage to see if he had successfully saved the teenager, he opened his eyes to see Ben still alive and on his feet, cowering behind him. His terror laden gaze never met Doug’s, instead staying locked in one place. 

He followed his eyes and found that he was staring right at Lilly, who had now been restrained by Lee.

“Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?!” The first voice the teen registered belonged to Kenny, the southerner rushing up to the rest of the group, Walker blood still on his hands. Doug quickly turned back to the shaken teen to reassure himself that he was indeed still alive. 

“Ben, o-oh my God, are you hurt?” The teen didn’t respond, not even fazed by the question. “Ben? Seriously are you ok?” Ben finally noticed that he was being talked to, and nodded after a moment, slowly standing upright again. “...Wh-what’re we gonna do with her?” Ben asked, referring to Lilly. Doug thought for a moment, realizing he was unsure himself. While he was busy debating on what to do, he hadn’t noticed how Ben was starting to look more confused than scared.

“You’re not coming with us.” Lee muttered coldly as he released his grip on the woman’s wrists, ushering a scared Clementine back into the RV. ‘When had she gotten out here...?’ Doug thought to himself, hoping she hadn’t seen what had just happened. That girl was too good for this world. She deserved so much better than to live in this Hell.

Doug shook his head as he realized his train of thought had derailed again, a deepening frown appearing on his face as he followed the girl in, hoping this would be the last time they’d have to leave someone behind; alive or dead. Ben stayed rooted in place, his expression had turned unreadable, and was holding his hand up to his left ear. 

He pulled it away and looked down at his palm, crimson red smeared on it. 

Ben’s face paled, staring down at his own blood. He quickly stuck his hand in his letterman’s pocket, not wanting to put even more strain on the group with an injury that likely wasn’t major.

‘Now’s not the time.’ Ben thought before quickly going to join Doug and Clem in the safety of the RV. 

However the teen found that he had stopped in his tracks and turned to glance at Lilly one final time. She only glowered back at him, disgust and hatred in her features. He regretted stopping. “C’mon kid.” Kenny appeared beside him, giving Lilly his own scowl before they both disappeared inside the RV. 

“You can’t just leave me with nothing you piece of shit! I’ll die out here!” Lilly yelled at Lee in one final attempt to sway his decision. “I don’t care.” Lee glared at the woman as he turned his back to her, stepping inside the RV and slamming the door behind him. The sound startled everyone, except Ben and Duck. Doug was the only one who noticed their lack of responses. 

Kenny wasted no time getting back on the road, careful not to look in the rearview mirror. He never wanted to see that traitor again, not even when he was leaving her in the dust. Katjaa whispered something to her husband that caught his attention, and the two engaged in a hushed conversation, too quiet to be heard. Doug tried his best to respect their privacy by distracting himself with something. He knew the teen sitting parallel to him wouldn’t want to talk right now, so he chose the next best person. 

“Hey Clementine, you still doing good over there?” Doug smiles at the little girl sitting beside her troubled caretaker, hoping he could at least raise her spirits. “Yeah, it’s a little boring in here though.” Clem replied, regretting not carrying any of her drawing materials on her before the bandits raided the Inn. “Maybe I can help with that. Wanna know something cool about...” Doug trailed off, realizing he had no idea what the girl liked. “Dogs?” He finished after a moment, it was a basic question, but the safest bet. He was never exactly interested in dogs despite knowing a bunch of useless facts about them; being much more of a cat person, but he recalled Clementine saying something about missing them.

Lee smiled at Doug’s interest in her wellbeing, Clem looked up to him after all. She was clearly glad that he wanted to talk to her. 

Ben’s attention remained fixated on the road behind them, watching Lilly’s form fade from view. He could’ve sworn he saw a Walker too, but that could’ve just been his mind playing tricks on him. He was listening in on the conversation between Doug and Clem with passing interest, he wasn’t exactly into the subject of dogs, not after he was bit by one Travis found in third grade, but it beat sitting in silence. He found it strange how their conversation was hushed, there was no reason for them to be keeping their voices down. And as it turns out, they weren’t. 

’It’s nothing, Lilly just clipped a bit of your ear off when she tried to kill you. It’s fine, everything’s fine.’ Ben attempted to rationalize to keep himself from panicking, even if he thought it seemed more like he was lying to himself, he was right about his ear being clipped though. He’d noticed it when he put his hand over it earlier. Thinking about how close the bullet was to him however only served to make him more uneasy, he began fidgeting with his hands to distract himself, it wasn’t much but it relieved some stress. He willingly ignored the now dried blood still present on his left hand. 

...

Doug and Clem’s conversation still lingered in the air long after Lee began dozing off, no longer on the subject of dogs. Ben was unsure of what, but he had still abstained from joining in. He’d only began paying attention when Lee had gotten up without warning and headed towards Katjaa and Kenny, he didn’t know what prompted him to though. 

“-And that’s when I put a bug on his pillow to get back at him, but don’t tell Lee I said that!” Clem whispered to Doug, who only stifled a laugh in response. He’d almost forgotten what it was like before the outbreak, but Clem’s attitude always made it seem like everything was still normal. Like people weren’t eating other people for survival under the guise of friendly dairy farmers. It was refreshing.

A wet tap caught the pair’s attention, had it not been as quiet and cramped in the RV it wouldn’t have been audible at all. Ben looked at the surface below him only to see a little droplet of blood on the table. His heart dropped. 

’Why didn’t the bleeding stop...?’

“Ben, holy shit- your ear’s bleeding!” Doug stood panicked, catching everyone off guard with how loud he was. “Jesus-What the fuck are y’all doin’ back there?” Kenny yelled back, startled at the sudden commotion after a half hour of silence. “What the hell did you just say?” Lee looked back at the three, his brows knitted in concern. 

“Fuck... Quick, lemme look at that,” Doug grabbed Ben’s jaw and turned his head to face the window again, staring back at the road disappearing into the void of the night. 

“I-Is it bad?” He asked after a moment, unable to keep his fear from bleeding into his tone. The man ripped his gaze away from the unnerving stream of red running down the teen’s face, instead he raised his hand up to his cheek and snapped his fingers, only to receive no response. 

That was when everything clicked in place in Doug’s head. The lack of a response outside, not at all being fazed by Lee slamming the door, the bleeding... Doug knew exactly what had happened. He felt his already present disdain for a certain woman intensify. 

“I-I dunno, I’m no doctor but that cannot be good.” Doug turned to Kat, pushing his anger aside, hoping she would be able to at least stop the bleeding.

“Fuuuck, Kat get over there, me n Lee’ll watch Duck.” Kenny sighed, almost amazed at how this day just kept getting rougher and rougher every time he thought it was over. “Alright, let me see that Ben.” Kat switched places with Lee, rushing over to the other three. “Is he gonna be alright? That’s a bit of blood...” Doug mumbled more to himself than to Kat. She only sighed.

“I-I’m not sure, that must’ve been a much closer call than any of us thought. It looks like his ear’s been clipped by the bullet too, and there’s only so much that I can do with what we have,” Katjaa frowned. She was well aware of how guns were dangerous in more ways than one. Kenny’s own grandfather had suffered the same fate, a hunting accident she recalled, bullet shot off right by his ear and deafened it permanently. 

“God...” She muttered under breath. “Ok, Ben, let me know if you can hear anything from this ear.” She held her hand up to his bloodied ear and snapped her fingers three times, the odds of it being salvageable were slim, but she was hoping against all that she’d get a reaction out of him. “Katjaa, I tried that...” Doug whispered, careful not to scare Ben or Clementine any further “K-Kat? I-I don’t hear anything.” Ben mumbled, becoming more anxious as each second passed. 

“I... I don’t think there’s saving this. You can hear out of your other ear just fine right?” The woman asked, fear bubbling up in her chest. Duck being bitten was one thing, a member of the group going deaf was another. “Y-Yeah I can.” She sighed in relief before turning to an equally anxious looking Doug.

“Doug I need you to go get something to help stop the bleeding, there’s nothing else we can do.”

“Kat, is Ben gonna be ok?” Clem asked, pulling on the woman’s sleeve with a concerned look on her face. Katjaa crouched down to her level, not sure how to respond to that. 

“Ben will be fine, yes, but... I don’t think he’ll be able to hear out of his left ear anymore.” Kat chose to be honest. Clem frowned. “Can he-can he still hear?” The little girl peeked behind the veterinarian’s shoulder to see Ben wiping the blood off his face with a towel Doug had found. Ben noticed Clem staring at him, and turned to offer a little comforting smile. It was unconvincing at the very least. 

“Yes he can still hear, Clementine. Just... you and Doug keep an eye on him for a bit while he gets used to it, ok?” Kat smiled reassuringly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. 

“Ok...” Clementine mumbled, heading back to her seat, awaiting Lee’s return. Katjaa knew Lee would have to be the one to break the news to Clem and the others. It wasn’t going to be easy, but it has to be done. She stood up and spared one last glance to Ben and Doug before heading back to switch places with Clem’s guardian. 

“So, what happened...?” Kenny asked hesitantly, his tone alluding to the fact that both he and Lee were already very aware of what was going on.

“Ben’s gone deaf in his left ear. The bullet grazed him and-“ Katjaa was cut off by Kenny’s exasperated sigh. “God fucking damnit!” He groaned, letting his eyes drift off the road to fix the rear view mirror. Lee noticed he positioned it to face the back of the RV instead of the road. “I’m not sure if the bullet wound’s going to get infected or not, there was quite a bit of blood-“ “He’ll be fine, don’t worry about it. Boy’s still got ‘is other ear, don’t he?” The man interrupted, brushing off Kat’s concerns. 

“Well-He does, yes, but-“ “Then he’s fine.” Kenny raised his voice, his words directed more towards himself than his wife. Katjaa sighed, giving up the developing argument and instead turning to face Lee’s slightly hunched over form. “Thanks for keeping an eye on Duck, Lee. I really appreciate it. I... think it’s time you tell Clementine.” 

Lee nodded solemnly. “Yeah, I will. Poor kid’s gotta figure out sooner or later.” The man stood up fully, looking to the back of the RV with a melancholy frown. Doug was sitting besides Ben, both distracting themselves from the day’s previous events with Doug’s laser pointer, Clementine watching on in confusion. 

Lee decided to check on Clem before breaking the news to her, coming up to sit besides the little girl. “Hey sweet pea, how’s it goin’ back here?” Clementine looked up to him with a frown on her face.

“It’s fine. I’m worried about Ben, though. I don’t want him to be hurt.” Lee gave her a smile. “Hey I’m sure he’ll be fine. He lasted three months in the woods you know, he’s a tough kid. Right Ben?” Lee looked up to the teenager, hoping he’d provide some reassurance. 

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah sure.” Ben replied, not exactly catching what question he was answering, too caught up in whatever Doug was trying to show him. 

“See? It’ll work out, just give it time.” The little girl relaxed at that, the four being consumed in a new and welcomed air of peace.

Several moments passed before Lee became interested in Doug’s laser pointer. He was making patterns consisting of lines and dots on the table, occasionally mumbling something to Ben, to which he would just nod.

“Uh, whats that you’re doing there?” Lee craned his neck to get a better view of the table, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Oh, I’m teaching Ben here Morse code. Give him something to do, y’know?” Doug shrugged, returning to his activity. “Oookay... You learn anything yet?” His gaze drifted to Ben, wondering if he was actually picking any of this up. 

“Yeah, uh, definitely I... No.” Ben gave up, readjusting the towel he was told to keep against his ear. 

Doug chuckled and playfully jabbed the teen’s arm with the pointer. “Hope you have all night then, Ben, we’re not stopping until you learn the whole alphabet!” 

Ben groaned, but smiled as Doug began explaining it to him again.

Lee felt his own smile fade as he remembered what he needed to tell Clementine. He took a deep breath, and tapped on the girl’s shoulder. “Hey Clem, we uh, need to talk about Duck.” He whispered, making sure only Clementine would hear. 

“What about him?”

...

Doug has no idea how late it is, but he’s tired as hell and is unfortunately a man of his word. His lesson with Ben has gone on far longer than he’d expected, the two of them being the only ones awake besides Kenny. He stifled a yawn as he wrote out another message, hoping Ben would be able to pick out more than one or two words this time. He shifted arms again, resting his head on his left hand and writing with his right.

.. .-.. .-.. -. . ...- . .-. .-.. . - .- -. -.-- --- -. . .... ..- .-. - -.-- --- ..- .- --. .- .. -.

“Hey Doug, uh, maybe we should stop for the night. It’s pretty late...” The teen suggested, glancing out the window behind him to be met with the same black sky again. “Hm, you’re right, we can resume your lessons tomorrow.” Doug decided, craving sleep as much as the teen next to him. Frankly, he’s glad Ben asked to stop for the night, God knows he wouldn’t stop himself. 

Despite the fact that he said he was done, Doug wrote out one last message as Ben laid his head down on the table, using his arms as a pillow.

.. .-.. --- ...- . -.-- --- ..-

Ben’s tired eyes softened in understanding, he let out a relaxed breath through his nose as he met the man’s gaze for the last time that night. “‘Night Doug.” He mumbled, feeling himself drift off already. “Goodnight Ben.” Doug’s arm sagged lower and lower until he was laying on the wood grain table as well, listening to the engine running softly in comfortable silence.


End file.
